Rodeo comes to Danbury Arena

Published 12:36 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

DANBURY -- Cowboy hats and bulls replaced hockey sticks and skates. The ice was nowhere to seen, covered by plastic blocks and more than one foot of dirt.

But there were plenty of people in the stands as Brazil's second-most popular sport, rodeo, came to the Danbury Arena over the weekend.

"It's very good fun. We enjoy it very much," said Verusca Confortini, whose boyfriend, Rafael Melotti, was one of 35 cowboys who participated in the two-day bull-riding competition.

Only soccer is a bigger draw in Brazil, according to John Alvim, of Nozinho Productions, which staged the event.

Some 800 rodeo fans from across New England attended Saturday's matches, in which 35 riders, most from Brazil but several from the Danbury area, competed for one of 10 spots in Sunday's finals. About 500 spectators were expected at the finals.

To qualify for the final round, riders had to remain astride the bull for a minimum of eight seconds.

"Seven-point-nine and you're out," Alvim said.

Then the two judges awarded style points to the riders.

"The most you can get is 100 points, but nobody ever gets that much," Alvim said. Scores in the 70 to 85 range are more typical.

Eudes Silva said he drove more than three hours from Framingham, Mass., to see the rodeo with friends from Bridgeport.

But while he was in town, Silva, 26, decided to take a few whirls around the ice in the smaller Liberty Rink at the arena, which remained open for skating.

"It was my first time," Silva said. "I fell down a lot, but maybe I'll try it again."